Toybox REVIEW: Shokugan Modeling Project Victory Mars

Release Date: October 2024

RRP: 7200 yen

While there are plenty of things to praise Bandai for when it comes to the Shokugan Modeling Project (formerly Super Mini-Pla) line, one thing that should be commended is how thorough it is - particularly when it comes to the Super Sentai range. In the years since it began back in 2017 it's covered a number of different series, and nearly every time it's done the complete mecha line-up. Some things do occasionally fall through the cracks though, and in the last few years it does feel like there's been effort to fix that. First the Kakuranger line finally got its Ninjaman after five years in 2023, and now it's KyuuKyuu Sentai GoGoFive's turn with the release of Shokugan Modeling Project Victory Mars. Last seen with the release of Black Max Victory Robo back at the end of 2020, Victory Mars has been LONG overdue. Comprised of five Mars Machines built for deep space rescue missions, the final mecha in the GoGoFive arsenal was released as a Premium Bandai exclusive.

As Premium Bandai exclusive release, all five components of Shokugan Modeling Project Victory Mars come in a single box designed to mirror that of the original DX toy from 1999 (with some slight variations in text and logos). The front of the box features a nice big image of the robot alongside its individual components, while the back shows off these again as well as the intermediary Beetle Mars formation. One side of the box features a smaller image of the combined robot, whilst the other shows the individual Mars Machines alongside their respective pilot. Whilst the accuracy to the original DX boxes is a really nice touch across the whole SMP line, it is a shame that it means the photography doesn’t really get to show off the kits’ poseability. Inside the box you’ll find a considerable number of plastic runners in various colours alongside pre-painted parts, a sticker sheet, building/combining instructions and a single piece of soda-flavoured candy. Note that Victory Mars features A LOT of grey runners, so if you’re someone who paints their minipla for additional accuracy then you’re going to need a fair bit of silver paint at the ready.

First up in the set is GoRed’s Mars Machine, Red Mars 1 – a space shuttle-shaped vehicle armed with missiles on each side for obstacle clearance. Making up the head and torso of Victory Mars, Red Mars 1 has a fair bit of engineering built into it to allow for the shifting of parts when combining the five vehicles together. In addition to having a port built into the body perfect for an articulated display stand (thus allowing for flight posing), Red Mars 1 also features a variety of moving parts and retractable landing gear. However while the central wheel can simply be folded down, the two wheels at the back instead need to be unplugged and then reattached to sit flatly in their respective cavities.

Next up is Blue Mars 2, the personal Mars Machine of GoBlue. Blue Mars 2 is a suitable successor to GoBlue’s original 99Machine Blue Thrower, sharing similar design traits it combines in a similar way despite forming completely different parts of their respective robot’s bodies. Blue Mars 2 is also notable for having quite a few features built into its design, with two different pairs of flip-out weapons built into the front of the vehicle to accompany the retractable landing gear and foldable wings. It also has some interesting build elements when it comes to engineering, such as the way the combined robot arms and fists are compacted up and hidden inside the tanker-like back section.

Green Mars 3 is the smallest of the five Mars Machines, but it makes up for it by being the most manoeuvrable. Once again GoGreen’s personal Mars Machine also feels like like a good spiritual successor to his original 99Machine, trading up his VTOL-powered hovercraft for a sleek spacecraft. Being the smallest of the vehicles also means it’s by far the simplest build in the set, and a good starting place to ease you into the set if you aren’t doing them in the order of the instructions. As such it doesn’t really have much in the way of individual features either – just moveable wing pieces at the back and retractable landing gear.

The fourth of the Mars Machines is also the most heavily armoured vehicle in the group – GoYellow’s Yellow Mars 4. Despite looking like a blocky, more conventionally-shaped vehicle the build itself is really interesting with some impressive internal engineering to make it all work in limb mode. The silver bar that sits across Yellow Mars 4’s dorsal hull can also be folded out into a retractable manipulator arm, which is jointed at two separate points and then sports a hinged claw at the end that allows it to grip onto objects. On face value it might not seem quite as unique as the previous three builds, but there’s enough going on in both the build and execution that makes it just as interesting.

The last of the Mars Machines is GoPink’s Pink Mars 5, which is similar in design to Yellow Mars 4. As such the build process of the two vehicles is practically identical, even if the shape of the two is slightly different in certain areas (most noticeably the cockpit area and landing gear). Like its predecessor, Pink Mars 5 sports a retractable manipulator arm across its dorsal hull, which is jointed at two separate points as well as featuring a hinged claw section at the end. While the similarities to Yellow Mars 4 make it perhaps the least interesting build of the five Mars Machines, it’s nevertheless a nice way to cap the whole building experience off.

Together they make a nice little collection of vehicles, with a lot of distinction between the five Mars Vehicles other than Mars 4 and 5. The moveable landing gear and flip-out parts many of them have also give them a lot of individual play value, as opposed to some Super Sentai mecha components where they primarily feel there for the larger combination. They’re a great follow-on to the 99Machines that made up Victory Robo, which just goes to show how well thought out the rescue motif of GoGoFive is. Though not pictured here, each of the Mars Vehicles are also able to fit inside their pilots’ respective GoLiner (in the same manner as the 99Machines), which in turn can then clip onto Max Shuttle/Liner for a full space-faring convoy.

Before fully combining into Victory Mars the five Mars Machines can also come together to form Beetle Mars - a quadruped vehicle designed for landing on and transportation around alien terrain. In this form its main weapon is the Mars Cannon - a giant cannon that sits atop the vehicle and is primarily used either for defence or to clear obstructions. Combining the vehicles together into Beetle Mars are effectively the first steps to transforming them into Victory Mars as well, so it's very easy to switch between the two modes without having to pull the components apart and/or rearrange them. Beetle Mars is quite a unique looking combination, but fits the motif nicely. It's always great when a mecha gets an intermediary combination as well, as it instantly adds something extra to the overall play value of the set.

In Beetle Mars mode the combination is able to utilise the same arm/leg articulation Victory Mars would have, giving it full poseability across its four limbs. The front legs (comprised of Mars Machines 4 and 5) have swivel hinge movement where they connect to the main body, upper leg swivels, hinged knees and swivel hinge ankles. Meanwhile the back legs (which are made from Mars Machine 2 split in half) sport similar swivel hinge movement where they connect at the body along with upper half swivels and double jointed knees. Admittedly between the shape of the formation and making sure it's able to balance properly it doesn't give you a great deal of posing options, but the ability to pose it stomping along is pretty cool. The twin manipulator arms at the front of the vehicle definitely help make up for it though, and a number of Mogul Bombs have even been included for the arms to grip onto! In reality these are just small cylinders of yellow plastic that would be INCREDIBLY easy to lose, but the sentiment is nice nonetheless.

Transforming Beetle Mars into Victory Mars is then as simple as removing the Mars Cannon from the top, standing the combination up on its front legs, rearranging the cockpit section of Red Mars 1 to form the chest/reveal the head and pulling the forearms upward to reveal the hands. Finally the front and back sections of the head need to be pulled outward to reveal the eyes, which is quite a unique little step in the transformation. And voila! Ryusei Gattai Victory Mars is formed! This is a great robot design that follows the general aesthetic of the rest of the GoGoFive mecha nicely whilst also looking like its own beast. The leg and torso placement make it seem like it transforms similarly to Victory Robo, but then the movement of the blue and green components are enough to sufficiently change it up a bit.

Articulation is always where these kits really shine though and of course Victory Mars is no exception, bringing the kind of movement that even the onscreen suit itself might struggle to manage. Altogether the combination features;

- Ball jointed head and wrists

- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Double hinge elbows

- Single hinge knees

- Waist, bicep and thigh swivels

One of my favourite bits of engineering on the SMP figures (although admittedly not all of them have it) is the extendable butterfly joint pieces built into the robot torsos. While you can just have the arms sitting relatively flush to the sides of the robot like the DX toy, you can also just pull the joints completely outward to give them far more clearance - and thus an exceptional level of poseability. Victory Mars may not necessarily bring anything new to the table outside the way some of the joints have been implemented into the design (the waist swivel built into Green Mars 3 is particularly smooth), but everything it has it does with the utmost precision. The ankle joints are just superb, with not only a flawless tilt but also double jointed movement just above that to give them full clearance from the lower legs. The "skirt" pieces at the front of the hip assembly can also rotate to give the hips extra clearance. They say a picture tells a thousand words, so let all the pictures here (as well as everyone else's who has posted about this kit online) show you just how much this set has to offer.

Victory Mars’ sole accessory is its signature weapon, the Jet Lance spear. This is formed by rotating the barrel section of the Mars Cannon that sits atop Beetle Mars, which when clicked into place creates the shaft for the spear. A handle piece juts out of the side which can slot into either fist on the robot. Besides being quite a unique-looking weapon with its jet-shaped blade piece, the SMP version is quite impressive in that it successfully retains the spring-loaded gimmick from the original DX toy. Pressing a small button on the top of the Jet Lance will launch the “Top Jet” from the top of the weapon, which can then be easily clicked back into place. While the SMP line has always done a fantastic job of replicating (and when it comes to articulation, improving) the look of the original toys, features like spring-loaded gimmicks aren’t all that common so it comes as a rather nice surprise. It’s just a shame that the Top Jet doesn’t have a stand port built into it the same way the individual Mars Machines do, as one would have been quite useful to display it in mid-air as Victory Mars launches its finishing attack.

However as a final bonus an additional accessory has been included for Victory Robo – an all-gold version of its Braver Sword blade meant to represent its “Victory Prominence” finishing attack. This blade is a loose pre-painted piece, and can be switched out with the standard version of the blade with ease. Although arguably there was nothing really stopping Bandai including an alternate blade with Victory Robo in the first place (other than perhaps a limit on the amount of painted parts they can include with a release to meet the price point), it’s a nice little extra that gives you the ability to switch up Victory Robo all these years later. D

The KyuuKyuu Sentai GoGoFive range has been some of the most interesting kits that the Super Mini-Pla line has put out, so finally completing the lineup with Shokugan Modeling Project Victory Mars was long overdue – so long that the line has gone through a complete rebrand since those original kits came out. However in that time the overall quality of the model kits has just continued to go from strength to strength, with Victory Mars offering five great little vehicles alongside a fantastic combined robot mode and wonderfully weird intermediary combined vehicle mode. The way the articulation continues to improve on these kits no matter how the components combine is nothing short of fantastic. Time and time again Bandai prove this is not a line to miss out on, and somehow it doesn’t feel like the bubble is going to suddenly burst either.